With Polestar going electric, we remember five of the greatest petrol Volvos

Never forget, Volvo might not yell about it, but it can do sporty too… In its own unique way.

While it seems a shame that the Polestar performance sub-brand that's only just starting to make a name for itself is going all electric, it might just be the right move. 

After all, Volvo specialises in going a little against the grain. Prioritising safety over corporate greed, eschewing angular sporty design trends for understated style and smashing the Nurburgring and not telling anyone about it are all hallmarks of Volvo oddness.

So on the eve of Polestar going electric, we thought we’d remind you of five sporty Volvos that prove the brand can pull off an awesome left-of-field variant, when it wants to.

Volvo P1800 (1961)

If you think about it, in terms of styling Volvo has kind of come full circle these days. Their cars now focus on style over agression and thats exactly the niche the P1800 carved out for itself in 1961. It didn’t necessarily compare favourably, power wise, to its European or US rivals (of course, the ‘60s was the era of muscle cars) but truly brought something different, especially with the three-door ‘sports estate’ wagon. 

A P1800 currently holds the Guiness world record for the highest mileage vehicle in the world with almost 5 million km on the clock.

Volvo 242 GT (1979)

A hidden gem in Volvo’s 200-series lineup, this car was a Group A-inspired sport model. Only available as a coupe, this car had unique aero bits, a bespoke red stripe trim on the inside and check out the built-in rally-style lamps in the grille. Performance features included a higher-specced version of the standard 200-series engine, with capacity increased from 2.1 to 2.3-litres and increased compression (103kW, 190Nm). It also gained upgraded suspension. 

If you’re ready to get jealous, the US got 500 Group A homologated turbo versions of this car in 1983. Damn.

Volvo V70R (1998)

This oblong of a car packed a turbocharged inline five engine, and was built in a kind of odd set of layouts for a large sport model of the time, with FWD or AWD instead of RWD. The FWD was actually faster topping 0-100 in a reported 6.8 seconds. As a family-sized wagon, it was a bit of a sleeper, the only giveaway being the giant (for the time) 17-inch gunmetal grey alloys.

Volvo C30 R-Design (2010)

You know the Ford Focus XR5 Turbo? This car is incredibly similar, sharing essentially the same engine and chassis, but with that polarising styling meant to reference the P1800. 

The interior was ultra-Swedish, being fairly minimalist - instead of going full-ham with high-viz plastics and fake carbon fibre, it sported a brushed aluminium finish and plush leather. Unlike its cousins, the XR5 and the more distantly related Mazda MPS, hardly anyone picked a C30 R-Design up, making it a niche little hot hatch for those wanting something a bit different. A 169kW/320Nm five-cylinder turbo is stuffed under the hood.

Again, our American friends scored a higher performance Polestar limited edition of this car. Only 250 were produced, making it a certain future classic for quirky hot hatch enthusiasts (you know, those Renault die-hards who still reckon Peugeot will make a comeback…).

Volvo S60 Polestar (2017)

After the Nurburgring news the other week, this one should be obvious. This very blue bruiser was very briefly the fastest four-door sedan in the world, only being bested by the Alfa-Romeo Giulia QV shorty afterward. Although you wouldn’t know it, as the brand’s motorsport division, Cyan racing didn’t say anything about it until much later. Despite unassuming looks it’ll do 0-100 in 4.4 seconds, in typical Volvo fashion, the V60 wagon variant is just as bad-ass.
 
What do you think of Polestar going all-electric? Do you still think Volvo is a strange European brand for upper middle class mums and dads? Share your Volvo thoughts in the comments below.